Police chase in Metuchen ends in arrest of South Plainfield man

A South Plainfield man is in the Middlesex County jail after he led police through the borough and onto Route 1 before he pulled over, but not before he caused an accident. No one was injured.Metuchen Police Department website

METUCHEN — A South Plainfield man led Metuchen police on a chase Saturday morning through borough streets and onto Route 1, where he was finally stopped in Edison.

Brian Chatel, 35, is in Middlesex County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, charged with eluding police, driving on a license suspended for drunken driving, and several summonses, including reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, according to police Sgt. David Liantonio.

No one was injured in the incident.

Liantonio said it started about 10 a.m. when Patrolman Robert Ring, who was on routine patrol on Grove Street at Essex Avenue (Route 27), saw an older model Jeep pass him in the opposite direction.

“The driver turned and looked at the officer, looking kind of nervous,” Liantonio said. “So, the officer made a u-turn at which time he heard tires screech and the engine rev up.”

He said the Jeep took off with Ring in pursuit.

Liantonio said Ring drove through several residential streets (about the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour) and wound up on Main Street.

“He drove until he got to the Route 1 south ramp and made a sharp turn onto the ramp,” he said. “Traffic at the location was stopped on Route 1 for a red light, but (Chatel) enters the right lane, striking a vehicle stopped for the light.”

Liantonio said the Jeep continued into the middle lane, then the left lane, for about a mile with police cars in pursuit, their sirens and lights on, before he stopped at the side of the road near Forrest Haven Boulevard.

The sergeant said when confronted by police, the driver (later identified as Chatel) said he took off because he “didn’t see the officer” and when asked about hitting the car stopped at the light, he said “what accident?”

Liantonio said the driver had no credentials—license and registration—but was later identified by police who discovered his license was suspended and that he had an outstanding arrest warrant from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and county sheriff’s department for nonpayment of child support.

Liantonio said Chatel was taken to the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, with the requirement he put up the full bail in order to be freed.